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When tobacco is smoked, nicotine is absorbed by the lungs and quickly moved into the bloodstream, where it is circulated throughout the brain.

Hi, my name's Sara Bellum. Welcome to my magazine series exploring the brain's response to drugs. In this issue, we'll investigate the fascinating facts about nicotine. Some of this information was only recently discovered by leading scientists.

For centuries, people have chewed and smoked tobacco, which comes from the plant nicotiana tabacum. The reason tobacco is used by so many people is because it contains a powerful drug known as nicotine.

When tobacco is smoked, nicotine is absorbed by the lungs and quickly moved into the bloodstream, where it is circulated throughout the brain. All of this happens very rapidly. In fact, nicotine reaches the brain within 8 seconds after someone inhales tobacco smoke. Nicotine can also enter the bloodstream through the mucous membranes that line the mouth (if tobacco is chewed) or nose (if snuff is used), and even through the skin.

Nicotine affects the entire body. Nicotine acts directly on the heart to change heart rate and blood pressure. It also acts on the nerves that control respiration to change breathing patterns. In high concentrations, nicotine is deadly, in fact one drop of purified nicotine on the tongue will kill a person. It's so lethal that it has been used as a pesticide for centuries.

So why do people smoke? Because nicotine acts in the brain where it can stimulate feelings of pleasure.

Your brain is made up of billions of nerve cells. They communicate by releasing chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. Each neurotransmitter is like a key that fits into a special "lock," called a receptor, located on the surface of nerve cells. When a neurotransmitter finds its receptor, it activates the receptor's nerve cell.

The nicotine molecule is shaped like a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Acetylcholine and its receptors are involved in many functions, including muscle movement, breathing, heart rate, learning, and memory. They also cause the release of other neurotransmitters and hormones that affect your mood, appetite, memory, and more. When nicotine gets into the brain, it attaches to acetylcholine receptors and mimics the actions of acetylcholine.

Nicotine also activates areas of the brain that are involved in producing feelings of pleasure and reward. Recently, scientists discovered that nicotine raises the levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the parts of the brain that produce feelings of pleasure and reward. Dopamine, which is sometimes called the pleasure molecule, is the same neurotransmitter that is involved in addictions to other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Researchers now believe that this change in dopamine may play a key role in all addictions. This may help explain why it is so hard for people to stop smoking.

Did you know that nicotine is as addictive as heroin or cocaine? If someone uses nicotine again and again, such as by smoking cigarettes or cigars or chewing tobacco, his or her body develops a tolerance for it. When someone develops tolerance, he or she needs more drug to get the same effect. Eventually, a person can become addicted. Once a person becomes addicted, it is extremely difficult to quit. People who start smoking before the age of 21 have the hardest time quitting, and fewer than 1 in 10 people who try to quit smoking succeed.

When nicotine addicts stop smoking they may suffer from restlessness, hunger, depression, headaches, and other uncomfortable feelings. These are called "withdrawal symptoms" because they happen when nicotine is withdrawn from the body.

Withdrawal may be bad, but long-term smoking can be much worse. It raises your blood pressure, dulls your senses of smell and taste, reduces your stamina, and wrinkles your skin. More dangerously, long-term smoking can lead to fatal heart attacks, strokes, emphysema, and cancer.

You may be surprised to learn that tobacco use causes far more illnesses and death than all other addicting drugs combined. One out every six deaths in the United States is a result of smoking.

But even when faced with risk of death, many people keep using tobacco because they are so addicted to nicotine. Believe it or not, half of the smokers who have heart attacks keep smoking, even though their doctor warns them to stop. That's a strong addiction!

Smokeless tobacco also has harmful effects. Chewing tobacco can cause damage to gum tissue and even loss of teeth. It also reduces a person's ability to taste and smell. Most importantly, smokeless tobacco contains cancer causing-chemicals that can cause cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus. This can even happen in very young users of chewing tobacco. In fact, most people who develop these cancers were users of chewing tobacco.

The brain's best defense against nicotine is to think hard before using it. Start by trying to match the correct percentages to the statements located below.

Percentage of smokers who start smoking in their teens

Percentage of smokers age 17 or less who say they regret starting

Percentage of youth smokers who will continue smoking and die early from a smoking-related disease

A. About 30%
B. 80% - 90%
C. 70%

Ans​wers:

Percentage of smokers who start smoking in their teensB. 80% - 90%

Percentage of smokers age 17 or less who say they regret startingC. 70%

Percentage of youth smokers who will continue smoking and die early from a smoking-related diseaseA. About 30%

The truth is, there's still a whole lot that scientists don't know about nicotine's effects on the brain. Maybe someday you'll make the next big discovery.

Until then, join me - Sara Bellum - in the other magazines in my series as we explore how drugs affect the brain and nervous system.

Mind Over Matter is produced by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health. These materials are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Citation of the source is appreciated. NIH Publication No. 03-4248. Printed 1998, Reprinted 2000, 2003.

The NIDA Blog Team

October 14, 2015

News reports are gaining attention on how bees have been dying in large numbers—much higher numbers than before 2006. Beekeepers and scientists have been mystified about why this is happening. Dying honeybees are a big problem for farmers, too, because the bees pollinate agricultural crops—okra, apples, cabbage, broccoli, and dozens more—and help them grow. So fewer bees means fewer crops, which is bad for food supplies and the economy.

No, you haven’t accidentally clicked over to a blog for bee lovers. Believe it or not, the bee crisis—and possible solutions to it—may be closely connected to the subject of drugs.

Getting their buzz on

Some scientists think one cause of the bee crisis is a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids. These pesticides are chemically related to nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco (and most e-cigarettes), and are used on many crops—crops that are then pollinated by bees. This means that when bees pollinate the crops with this type of pesticide, they pick up some of it up.

Some researchers speculate that bees are actually getting addicted to the pesticide—much like people get addicted to nicotine. Just like those addicted to cigarettes, bees may keep going back to neonicotinoids for another “hit.” Bye-bye, bee.

In one recent study, bees preferred nectar laced with neonicotinoids to nectar without the pesticides. The researchers found that the bees couldn’t taste a difference between the two types of nectars (by using an electron microscope to see if the taste receptors in the bees’ mouths were stimulated). This is why the researchers think the neonicotinoids might have hooked the bees’ brains.

(For now, the Environmental Protection Agency has stopped approving new outdoor uses for neonicotinoids, while it waits to see results from additional studies on bees’ health.)

Are we bee-brained?

Does it matter if the human brain and the bee brain act in similar ways? Over at the NIDA website, Dr. Nora Volkow, NIDA’s director, says that the bee research suggests that studying the science behind addiction in people might also give us a better understanding of animal behavior. If it does, we may learn how to end the bee crisis.

More research will reveal if, like people addicted to tobacco and other dangerous substances, bees are getting hooked on the same chemicals that could be killing them.

What would you like us to write abouton the Drugs & Health Blog?Tell us in a comment below.

Comments posted to the Drugs & Health Blog are from the general public and may contain inaccurate information. They do not represent the views of NIDA or any other federal government entity.

The NIDA Blog Team

February 21, 2017

Ever since e-cigarettes first appeared, people have debated whether they’re a positive development. Teens are weighing in: A recent study found that 73 percent of teens think e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco cigarettes.

What does the scientific evidence say?

Do e-cigs have benefits?

Protecting the lungs? E-cigarettes don’t burn tobacco, so some people think they may not be as harmful to the lungs as other tobacco products. It’s too early to be sure that’s true.

Fewer deaths? Research has found that smokers who switch to e-cigs might be consuming fewer harmful chemicals than those found in tobacco. So some think that e-cigs might reduce the number of smoking-related deaths.

Help people quit smoking? Some studies have said that e-cigs may help people quit using tobacco completely, when they switch to vaping. Other research has found that e-cigs may help people consume less tobacco.

But what about the risks?

Addiction potential. Some researchers worry that e-cigs have a lot more dangers than benefits. For starters, e-cigarettes contain nicotine, just like tobacco does. Nicotine can lead to addiction.

Inhaling metals. A recent study found that certain e-cig brands contain high levels of metals like nickel and chromium, which might come from the heating coils. When these metals are inhaled, they can be toxic (poisonous) and potentially lead to cancer.

Gateway drug. Several studies have found that some teens would not have used tobacco if they hadn’t used e-cigs first.

Delivering toxic chemicals. The liquid in e-cigs—whether or not it’s flavored—can be toxic.

The bottom line? For people looking to quit using tobacco, e-cigarettes might be helpful. But if you’re a teen who doesn’t smoke, they could eventually just hook you on tobacco. We’ll share updates on these tough questions as researchers discover more facts.

What would you like us to write abouton the Drugs & Health Blog?Tell us in a comment below.

Comments posted to the Drugs & Health Blog are from the general public and may contain inaccurate information. They do not represent the views of NIDA or any other federal government entity.

Monitoring the Future (MTF) is an annual survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, under a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. Since 1975, the survey has measured drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes in 12th graders nationwide. Eighth and 10th graders were added to the survey in 1991.

Overall, 44,892 students from 382 public and private schools participated in the 2015 survey.

First figure: Last Two Decades of Alcohol, Cigarette, and Illicit Drug Use*
*Past-month use

This graphic illustrates past-month use of alcohol, cigarette, and illicit drug use among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders from 1995 through 2015.

Third figure: 68.1 percent of high school seniors do not view regular marijuana smoking as harmful, but 71 percent say they disapprove of regular marijuana smoking.

Forth figure: Prescription/Over-the-Counter (OTC) vs. Illicit Drugs*
*The percentage of 12 graders who have used these drugs in the past year

Despite the ongoing opioid overdose epidemic, past-year use of opioids other than heroin has decreased significantly each year over the past 5 years among the nation’s teens. Heroin use has also decreased over the past 5 years and is at the lowest rate since the MTF survey began.

This list shows the percentage of 12th graders who have used these drugs in the past year.

Fifth figure: Students report lowest rates since start of the survey. Across all grades, past-year use of inhalants, heroin, methamphetamine, alcohol, cigarettes, and synthetic cannabinoids are at their lowest by many measures.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found at www.drugabuse.gov.

National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week and the National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week logo design are registered marks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SHATTER THE MYTHS® is a trademark and service mark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SHATTER THE MYTHS Logo is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).